Fight or Flight Read online

  Fight or Flight

  Vanessa North

  Published 2012

  ISBN: 978-1-93176-101-7

  Published by Liquid Silver Books, imprint of Atlantic Bridge Publishing, 10509 Sedgegrass Dr, Indianapolis, Indiana 46235. Copyright © Published 2012, Vanessa North. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  Liquid Silver Books

  http://LSbooks.com

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

  Blurb

  Given a choice between fight or flight, Tirzah Simonian has always been a fighter, but when she turns to flight to escape her disastrous marriage, her life comes crashing around her in a stolen transport. Now she’s to be tried by court-martial, and an acquittal is her only chance to save her career and get her life back on track.

  Advocate-Commander Zeke Lucassen has no love for women who abandon their spouses. He’s under pressure from the Fleet to close the case hard and imprison Tirzah in the work camps, but the evidence he’s been given doesn’t add up. He has to choose between believing the evidence provided by the investigator, or the growing conviction the pilot may have been acting in self-defense.

  Given the horrors in their pasts, neither one has any reason to trust the other, but both their futures depend on finding common ground.

  Dedication

  For Heidi, the Bitch in Your Corner, with many thanks for the virtual boxing lesson.

  Acknowledgements

  This story began as something entirely different, and it grew up under the eyes of the best crit partners a girl could ask for: Nickie, Ed, Sharis, and Yvette. However, it was Lynn Lorenz who pointed out I was telling the wrong story, and for that I am so very grateful.

  Chapter 1

  The cell door opening woke her.

  The pain in her face was sharp and tight, and the aches in her muscles made them burn and shake as she pushed to a sitting position as best she could with her hands in cuffs behind her back. She flopped on the cot like a fish out of water, but she managed to get her feet on the floor and her upper body somewhat vertical.

  “Who’s there?” She blinked as the lights flickered on, momentarily blinding her.

  “Walter.”

  Her stomach lurched.

  “Our transfer has been approved. I’ll pack your belongings while you serve out the rest of your two weeks in the brig.”

  “I didn’t request a transfer,” she whispered. He sat on the bed next to her, and she steeled herself not to pull away—if she provoked him, God only knew what he would do. He stroked her hair, smoothing it away from her face. To an outsider, it might have appeared to be a gesture of comfort, a caress, but Tirzah knew better. It was a reminder he held all the power.

  “I’m sorry, Tirzah, but it will be better if we go somewhere else. A fresh start.”

  She could feel him studying his handiwork: the bruise on her face. Her eyes adjusting to the light, she looked at him and took a bit of satisfaction in the signs of a half-healed split lip. At least she’d landed a hit before he’d locked her up.

  “We’ll go by Earth first so you can retest for your command, if you’d like.”

  So there was the carrot. Where was the stick?

  “And if I say no?”

  “I’ll press charges. It seems time in the brig is simply incapable of curing your violent nature. Perhaps you’re better suited to the work camps after all.” His gaze flickered down over her body. For a moment she wondered if he could tell what she was hiding with her hunched posture. But he didn’t say anything. He just moved toward the cell door. Just before he closed it, he turned back.

  “It’s a shame. You were a talented pilot.”

  * * * *

  “Are you sure you won’t come with me?” Tirzah looked into the warden officer’s unsmiling eyes. “He could make your life hell if he finds out you were the one who helped me.”

  He shook his head. “I can’t. I have a family here. I need to protect them.” He glanced at her rounding belly. “You know how that is, I suppose. I’ll cover for you as long as I can.” He ran a hand across her tumble of red hair—he held to the old superstitions that to touch red hair was lucky. “Good luck, Captain. Take care of yourself; I won’t be there to do it for you.”

  She climbed into the cockpit and started the engines. The transport was slower than the fighters she had been sent to this outpost to fly, but she’d have to make do. She only had a few minutes left before she had to clear the launch area. If Walter discovered she was missing before she was far enough off the ground to get an off-planet signal to the Becketts… No. She couldn’t think like that.

  “Thank you, Warden,” she whispered to the man who’d helped her. He nodded and slapped the side of the door as it closed.

  Just as she revved the first thruster, she heard the shouts. Fuck. She stood, half turning in the seat, pushing the door back open. The warden lay in his own blood, gasping and bellowing curses. Another shot from the doorway rang out and the man fell silent.

  She didn’t have time to think; it was now or never. She leveled the sidearm the warden had given her at the large man in the doorway and fired before sliding back into the cockpit and tugging the door shut behind her.

  The thrusters roared and the launch pad faded to nothing as she hurtled toward open space, struggling into the harness along the way. She didn’t know if she had hit Walter with that one shot, but he hadn’t fired back. She looked at the altitude gauges, her heart pounding. She should be clear of the security restrictions that blocked off-planet signals from the launch pad any moment now.

  She was going to make it.

  She reached for the ’com, shouting Josiah’s call number, and then Claudia’s. It had been so long since she’d talked to them she had no idea if they were still stationed together, or if Josiah was still handling defense cases for the Fleet, but if anyone could save her ass now, it would be him. The ship lurched and the lights on the artificial horizon sensor flared red. Fuck, no, please no.

  “Tirzah, baby, is that you?” Josiah’s voice had never been more welcome. “What’s going on?”

  “Becky! I’m in trouble. I need you,” she shouted into the ’com, but nausea rolled through her. She had never fainted in the cockpit before, but the terror of the afternoon’s events covered her as she struggled to correct the angle of the transport. The ship was slow and unresponsive compared to a fighter, and it felt like she had all her weight in the controls. Sweat broke out on her brow as another wave of nausea hit.

  Her last coherent thought as the world went black was she was going to die on this rock.

  * * * *

  One year later…

  “Tirzah, you have to eat something.” Claudia handed her an orange. She looked at her friend’s earnest face and open smile, and flinched.

  “I can’t,” she mumbled, shoving the sweet-smelling citrus away. “I’m just going to puke it up.” She pushed her tray back across the table toward the other woman. Two days ago, the court officer had admitted evidence she was physically recovered and mentally competent to stand trial. After almost a year of what amounted to house arrest in Solomon City, where she’d been taken after the crash, she would be tried for shooting her husband and stealing a transport. “I can’t do this. I should plead guilty.”

  “No, you shouldn’t. Fuck that, Tirz. The man was a monster. He deserved to be put down—I just wish you’d hit him in the balls before you shot him in the head. Besides, this is just a hearing, not a trial. And you have PT first.”

  “Goddamn it,” Tirzah swore, tearing the fruit from Claudia’s hand. She ripped at the peel as she thought about the hell her physical therapist, Brad, was about to put her through. She knew better than to go into his gym—aka torture chamber—without eating first. Not that it was Brad’s fault she needed physical therapy.

  After she had devoured the orange, she picked up a protein bar. She hated the way they tasted, like eating wood. The food gens never managed to make them taste as advertised, and the synthetic calories sat like weights in her stomach.

  “Tirzah, Clau.” Josiah approached the table with his breakfast tray. Without asking to join them, he sat next to Tirzah and squeezed her hand. “How ya doing, honey?”

  Josiah was smart as hell, kind to everyone, ferociously loyal, and heart-wrenchingly beautiful. His dark curls and big brown eyes caught lots of attention, from women and men. When he and Claudia both turned on the full wattage of their electrifying dimpled smiles, they were a potent antidote to even the foulest mood. He’d been Tirzah’s best friend since the Fleet Academy, and now he was her lawyer too. He was a hotshot in the Fleet, the darling of the Advocate Corps. He could request any assignment he wanted and almost be guaranteed to get it, especially now the war was over.

  She’d never thought she’d need this kind of help from him. He’d dropped everything and flown himself and his sister out here to nurse her back to health and then defend her.

  “I’m okay,” she said, nodding. “Terrified, but I’m not dead.”

  “Lucassen is a tough prosecutor, but he’s fair. You acted in self-defense. He might settle.”

&nb
sp; “If we settle, can I fly a fight command?” She’d asked the question dozens, if not hundreds, of times since they’d charged her with Walter’s murder and stealing the transport. She knew the answer. If she settled, her career was over, and she’d be flying colony ships for half her old pay—provided she wasn’t dishonorably discharged.

  “You know you couldn’t. But if the court-martial goes to the Solomon Tribunal, it’s anyone’s guess what would happen.”

  “I’ll take my chances, Becky. But now I really want to puke.”

  “Don’t call me Becky in front of the crew,” he muttered, brown eyes glinting with humor. He’d lost exactly one bet to Tirzah, ever—during their first year at the Fleet Academy—and that nickname had been the price. “Go, do your therapy. Brad will work you hard, and then you’ll feel better.”

  “Buy a dictionary, Jo-si-ah.” She drew out his name, enunciating every syllable. “‘Aching all over’ is not a synonym for ‘better.’”

  “I’ll see you in two hours. Don’t be late.” He winked at her before turning to his sister. “Go with her. Keep an eye on her. Make her laugh or something, okay?”

  “Aye, sir.” Claudia grinned and saluted, taking Tirzah’s hand and tugging her toward the gym.

  Chapter 2

  “Lucassen.” Zeke turned when he heard his name. He nodded at the admiral bearing down on him as he fell into step beside him.

  “Sir?”

  “I have an assignment for you. I need an advocate who can take on Josiah Beckett.”

  “I’m flattered. The guy has a reputation. Who’s he defending this time?”

  “Walter Simonian’s killer.”

  Zeke let out a low whistle. Taking on Josiah Beckett in a murder case, a high profile murder case; that could make his career. Why him, though? Surely there were more sought-after prosecutors.

  “I haven’t paid attention to the case. Who is the defendant? And why is Beckett getting his hands dirty with a murder case?”

  “The defendant is an old school friend of his. Simonian was shot by his wife, and then she crashed a transport trying to flee. The gun was found in the transport. It’s a pretty straightforward case.”

  “Well, at least she had the decency to shoot the man before she left him,” Zeke snapped. Unlike his own wife, who hadn’t had the decency to even actually leave him before she had abandoned their marriage.

  “So, you’re our man on this?”

  “Send me the case file. Which tribunal?”

  “Solomon. The Simonians were stationed out on one of the Solomon outpost stations. She’s been on supervised lockdown in Solomon City ever since.”

  Solomon City. The planet Solomon was the sector’s very own Wild West. Zeke had seen pictures of the drab gray planet with its white brick buildings. It was in the early stages of terraforming, still using artificial oxygen and food generators. As the terraforming took hold, biodiversity would expand and they’d be able to introduce fruits and vegetables, and later livestock, but until then, everyone on the planet lived, worked, played all indoors. Zeke shuddered. Well, he could rough it for the duration of a case. If he won against Beckett, he’d have his pick of cases from here on out.

  * * * *

  Zeke watched the redhead working out, studied her movements. She was the reason he’d been given temporary assignment on the edge of civilization, so he might as well know who he was dealing with.

  She was tiny, all compact muscle in a form-fitting workout suit that covered her from neck to toe. She even wore long sleeves when she worked out. The court-ordered defendant-tracking chip hung in a heavy cuff around her forearm, just above the boxing gloves. Her hair was coiled tightly to her head, making her eyes look huge. With freckles sprinkled across her face she looked young, even innocent. He had a hard time believing this was the cold-blooded murderer from the commandant’s reports.

  The big pugilist training her seemed unfazed by the ferocious grunts she made as she hit the weighted bag; every so often he corrected her form with a bland comment. After a few rounds with the bag, the man sent her to a chinner bar to pull up. She favored her left arm. Zeke looked at his notes—she’d broken that one in the accident. She was clearly a tough little number, but nothing about her made him think, “hardened criminal.” Even the cuff looked more like a fashion statement than a tracking device.

  It didn’t make sense to him why a highly decorated pilot like Tirzah Simonian would have been in that brig—for assault, no less—in the first place, let alone steal a transport to try to escape. A hero of the Fleet. He shook his head, looking at his notes again. Both the warden and her husband had been shot when she stole the transport, but why?

  “What were you running from, Simonian?” he whispered, watching her grimace as she dropped from the bar and walked to the treadmill. Her trainer called something out and she flashed him an angry one-fingered salute. Zeke’s lips twitched, and he tried not to smile as she ran.

  “Don’t let her size fool you; that woman is a beast.”

  Zeke turned at the voice behind him. Nick Guszak, the investigating commandant, stood a few feet away, pinning the little redhead with a glare. Guszak rubbed him the wrong way. The commandant seemed overly eager to see the woman prosecuted, as if it were personal. That never boded well.

  “A beast, really?” Zeke raised an eyebrow at the florid-faced man. “Why would you say that? There’s no sign of anything to her actions but desperation. The court officer saw fit to release her on bail in spite of the severity of the charges, even. What do you see in her that I’m missing?”

  “You need to close this one hard, Lucassen—we’ve given you the information you need to send the bitch to jail. She killed a hero of the Fleet in cold blood. The CO of her outpost. Don’t be seduced by her sweet face. We’re counting on you.”

  “She’s a hero of the Fleet too.” He looked back at his reader. She’d been responsible for flying one of the most dangerous missions in history against the Coronals, just a few months before her marriage to the man she’d killed. The wedding had made the news vids, a flashy Christmas affair with some of the top brass paying their respects to the happy couple. A symbol of excellence in the Fleet. How had she ended up in the brig not three years later?

  “Not anymore she’s not.” The commandant pointed at the woman in question one more time. “Close this one.”

  * * * *

  Tirzah tried not to fidget as she sat at the table with Josiah at her side. His hand slipped under the table and closed over her knee, stilling the foot she hadn’t realized she tapped. A court officer stood by to issue orders once the plea had been entered. She glanced over as the door opened and a huge man walked into the conference room. Her breath caught a little as he nodded in her direction. Broad shoulders filled his advocate uniform, narrowing to a trim waist and powerful thighs. Sharp green eyes bored into her, startling in their lightness from a dark-complexioned face. His hair was braided into tight rows, close to his scalp. He looked rigid, unyielding. Terrifying. Every bit of him looked sharp and dangerous.

  There had been a time in her life when the appeal of a dangerous man had been as seductive as the appeal of steering a fighter through space. Her body still, on some level, reacted to the raw power of a big, strong man, even though the man she married had eventually turned on her, terrorized her.

  This man in front of her saw right through her. Her heartbeat grew frantic—she knew now how small creatures felt under the gaze of a bird of prey.

  Fight or flight.

  She’d fought Walter and she’d lost. She’d flown and she’d fallen.

  Now another big, terrifying man had her pinned to the wall, and there was nowhere to go, no escape possible.

  “I’m Advocate-Commander Zeke Lucassen, the prosecutor assigned to the case of Captain Tirzah Simonian. This is an informal hearing that will serve as your arraignment. Are you prepared to proceed?”

  “We are.” Josiah’s voice rang out in the small room.

  The officer of the court looked at Tirzah. “We will enter your plea on the first count of murder now.”

  The prosecutor sat across the table from her, his eyes still piercing into her. She swallowed, trying to force her gaze away, to still her rapid heartbeat before the treacherous organ imploded.